Parker shakes off three-game slump

After three straight subpar games in which he scored a total of 20 points and went 9 for 28 from the field, Spurs point guard Tony Parker broke out of his mini-slump to get 20 points in Friday’s come-from-behind victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Parker’s 7-for-14 shooting and perfect 6-for-6 night at the line was a welcome sight to teammates who have relied on Parker’s aggressiveness to serve as catalyst for the team’s most potent offense since Gregg Popovich took over as head coach in 1996.

Friday’s game was a dramatic bounce-back from Wednesday’s loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles, when Parker scored only two points and seemed to be without energy during a season-low 18 minutes on the court. It was his lowest point total since Feb. 19 last season, when he went 1 for 9 and scored only two points against the 76ers in a game in Philadelphia.

“Tony was great,” Spurs captain Tim Duncan said of his Friday-night breakout. “I don’t know that he was in that much of a funk. He had a bad game (in Los Angeles). I’ve had plenty of bad games at the start of this season.

“We’re all playing hard, and we’re all trying to get it done one way or another. Some nights will be worse than others, but that’s the NBA for you.”

Adapting to age: New Orleans’ Monty Williams may be in his first season as a head coach, but today’s game against the Spurs will mark the third time he has had to prepare his team to face Duncan, his former Spurs teammate.

“He doesn’t have the explosion he had, but he’s still high-IQ, still putting up double figures,” Williams said. “He isn’t jumping the way he used to, but he could never jump anyway.”

Duncan may not command a double-team every time he catches the ball, Williams said, but he still merits extra attention.

“He’s too smart not to,” he said. “He’ll figure out the game. I think you have to give him different looks. He’s the best power forward of all time. You can never underestimate Tim Duncan, which I hate, because I have to coach against him.”

No wine-ing: Spurs assistant coach Mike Budenholzer inherited a 15-point deficit when he took over on the Spurs’ bench after Popovich was tossed out of Friday’s game against the T’wolves for getting two technical fouls. But Budenholzer refused to claim credit for the win.

Didn’t Popovich at least owe him a couple of bottles of “Rock and Hammer,” the special selection pinot noir from Popovich’s A to Z Wineworks?

“He gives them away to us freely,” Budenholzer said. “We are the luckiest assistants in the league. I’m never wanting for Rock and Hammer.”